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Power of Prophecy
13 indigenous grandmothers gather to fulfill an ancient prophecy for
the world.
by Carol Schaefer | December 2, 2008
photo by Marisol Villenueva
“When the Grandmothers from the four directions speak, a new time
is coming.”
“Prophecy is traditionally revealed and confirmed over time, in bits
and pieces and through many different people.”
When she was 9 years old, Rita Blumenstein, a native Yupik from
Alaska, began to see visions and prophecies. It was then that her
great-grandmother took her aside and gave her 13 stones and 13 eagle
feathers. She told her that she would one day pass them out at a
Grandmother’s Council.
Over half a century later—in 2004—true to her great-grandmother’s
vision, Rita found herself in a circle of 13 grandmothers from five
continents who had gathered in rural New York. Many of the
grandmothers were living legends among their people—wise women,
curanderas, shamans, and healers of their tribes. Like Rita, each
one, in different ways, had been foretold of their participation in
a sacred grandmother council that would fulfill a prophecy for the
world.
Rita had tears in her eyes when she greeted her fellow grandmothers
for the first time and gave each one the special stone and eagle
plume that had been given to her by her great-grandmother for this
very occasion.
“Thirteen stones in honor of the 13 Grandmothers, the 13 planets in
our universe, and the 13 full moons of the year,” she said. “We’re
late, but we’re here!”
The return of the Grandmothers has been foretold for hundreds of
years by many indigenous traditions. Although each grandmother knew
deep within that she was meant to participate, it wasn’t until Rita
handed out the feathers and stones at their historic first gathering
that the Grandmothers realized there was a specific number in the
prophecy.
Each grandmother had been contacted by Jyoti, an American woman who
herself had a series of visions, including one in which she saw a
circle of grandmothers from different parts of the world. Unaware of
the Grandmother Prophecy, she felt that she was being called to give
these women a voice. Overwhelmed by the scale of the vision and with
a sense of urgency, Jyoti prayed for direction. How was she to find
the Grandmothers? And how would she know if she had the right ones?
Then, the answer came: “At the seed of all things are relations.
Start there and everything else will grow.” Jyoti turned to contacts
she had gathered through years of visiting and learning from
indigenous people around the globe. She sent out letters of inquiry
to 16 women elders describing her vision and asking for their
presence on the council. Although she had no idea how many there
were to be, 13 accepted.
Since their first gathering, the grandmothers have become a living
fulfillment of the prophecy and, as they say, “a prayer in action.”
According to them, prophecy is traditionally revealed and confirmed
over time, in bits and pieces and through many different people,
with each revelation deepening its meaning.
Each grandmother took her seat in the council for the first time in
2004, and the group met in private for three days. They felt that
they were hundreds of years late according to the prophecy, and that
the end of the world as we know it is near. Collectively, they knew
the Grandmothers from the Spirit World were calling them to action.
They knew that now they must reveal their most secret and sacred
ways to the very people who have been their oppressors. They also
shared the belief that the world is being prepared for the spirit of
the feminine and that this energy must awaken in men as well as
women.
According to Grandmother Flordemayo of Central America, “Prophecy
states that it will be the women who walk with the power. We have an
incredible journey and responsibility as women. All of our life we
are caretakers, walking with the Mother. For women to have the
freedom in the heart to be able to express ourselves spiritually is
very, very important. We must learn to stay balanced in the moment
and give each moment 100% of our prayer.”
During their private council, the Grandmothers decided they would
visit one of each of their homelands every six months. Over the past
two years, they have raised funds to travel to the Black Hills;
Oaxaca, Mexico; the Brazilian Amazon; and New Mexico; and they
visited the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. Most recently, on a
global day of Prayer for the Waters of the Earth, they traveled to
Spain to spread their prayers through the waters of the
Mediterranean to the shores of the River Jordan. They also fulfilled
a long-held intention to lay down prayers at the Vatican and
delivered a letter to the Pope to request the revocation of edicts
that have resulted in the decimation of indigenous people and
cultures worldwide for over 500 years.
Said Grandmother Mona Polacca to the public that had gathered to
hear them speak in Rome, “This is an historic occasion. Five hundred
years ago the ancestors from Spain and Italy came to our lands and
planted their flags. Just a few weeks ago, we came to the Vatican.
But we did not plant our flags; we planted our prayers. We are here
to open the way so that someday our grandchildren might come here
and meet with your grandchildren in a peaceful way.”
Excerpted in part from Grandmothers Counsel the World: Women Elders
Offer Their Vision for Our Planet.
http://www.worldpulsemagazine.com/magazine/articles/the-power-of-prophecy
Background:
Robert Kaufman Fabrics:
http://www.robertkaufman.com/
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